Dolebludger

It appears that post #39 above was submitted by someone at Regent, and it is nice that  Regent responded to this confusing matter. As I mentioned in post #30 above, it appears that demand for business class seats exceeds capacity. Some excess demand comes from cruise guests, but I’ll bet the majority of the excess comes from passengers who simply cannot tolerate shrunken and inadequate economy seating, which the airlines created for us. Given this situation, it is understandable that Regent feels the can no longer guarantee business on all intercontinental flight legs, and do so with the minimum of connections and layovers. 
 

We are Regent guests who arrange our air travel to and from a cruise with NO economy air flight legs. And we want this arranged before final payment, to allow us to cancel the whole thing with minimum penalty if air cannot be arranged in this manner or if we deem the cost excessive,

Similarly, I understand that Regent has been unable to set up hotel and land transfers in some locations. Understood. There is a world-wide shortage in the hospitality industry of labor, facilities, and supplies. So I understand that Regent may not want to guarantee these things that aren’t available to it. 
 

I can’t say more without knowing the new Regent fare structure, researching business air and hotel costs, and doing some math. But I can say one thing. Regent needs to drop the $75 charge for only talking to its flight department. Guests may want to make this contact to research whether they want to book a given Regent cruise, or not. A guest who declines to book do to excessive air fare in the desired class, determined by contacting Regent, shouldn’t be charged anything by Regent. Including this contact for free motivates the guest to return to Regent to inquire about other cruises. Actually, what Regent has done requires more pre cruising research than before — and Regent should help with this at no charge.

Nobody has said it, so I will. The airlines don’t have a sufficient number of business class seats, and are charging “rip-off” prices for what they have. This is all in the environment of increased demand for business class due to shrinkage of space in economy. The airlines’ self-created shortage of business class seats has made it difficult for Regent to promise intercontinental business class to all.who book. And when it is provided, it usually has unnecessary connections and excessive layovers. We are quite old, have the usual aches and pains, and absolute refuse to fly basic economy for flights over one hour. If we can’t set it up that way, we don’t go.

i’ll wait to see Regent’s new fare structure to decide whether we will cruise it (or any cruise line) again.

Oh yes, there are complaints about business class flight routing, excessive connections and long layovers. I am confident that Regent is doing its best with the flights, and that the problem is mainly with the airlines, but too often Regent gets all of the blame.

I don’t know how any of us can form an opinion on the “new deal” until we learn of some prices for it, and can compare them to the old deal. The only hard fact that I have learned from out TA is that we can still book until July 1 under the “old deal”. `

Also, I do know that Regent has been having problems obtaining hotels and transfers, and with the shortage of business class seats. These things may be responsible for changing “the deal”.

Rather like all changes announced by all cruise lines, I’m having problems understanding this change. The regular all inclusive sounds like what we had on our Caribbean cruise two months ago. As Regent’s air in that area is all basic economy (which we don’t like) and as Regent’s air is not even upgradable with cash, we took a credit for rejecting Regent’s air and transfers, and booked our own. 
 

The ultimate all inclusive sounds like what we got on a booked but, still future Regent cruise, in Europe. We opted for Regent’s air and transfers, but wanted an airline that had direct service from our gateway airport (Denver) and return without a plane change within the US — meaning that the leg from Denver to and from the domestic connection would be basic economy. We found an airline with flights we wanted, requested a deviation to it, and paid $175 pp. 

My problem with understanding the new programs is that I can’t see how it would change the two above scenarios in any major way. The only change I can see is that now, instead of including land transfers in ultimate (which recently have been by bus), Regent is giving a credit for limo transfers. Also, under the old program, we could separately chose to utilize Regent’s hotel one night pre cruise, while rejecting or deviating the air. 
 

Of course, we haven’t seen the pricing on cruises under these two new programs. All this could be a “smoke screen” attempting to hide a major price increase. Or ir could be Regent’s response to its own inability to set up hotel and ground transfers in some locations (Barbados and Iceland recently).
 

In any event, it makes me sad that Regent hasn’t notified me of this, having recently returned from a Regent cruise, with another about two months away, and a long term history of more Regent cruises than I can count!

5 hours ago, Escruiser1962 said:

Which upscale lines do you recommend? Thanks!

Although this question was meant for another member here, I’ll answer. I recommend Regent and Silversea. 

The only to avoid crowds and lines onboard is to cruise on a ship designed to avoid these things — even when fully occupied by guests. Those ships are in the luxury class of cruising. They are more expensive than many “mass market” cruises, but not always more expensive than Celebrity Retreat.  The lux lines to which I refer are Regent, Silversea as to the ones we have cruised. By report, I understand that Seaborne and Crystal also belong in this category. Ships in the luxury category are planned to be 100% occupancy without the crowds and lines. To my experience, they have succeeded.

Just to clarify, lux lines do provide a bottle of spirits and a bottle of wine  with the mini bar set up.it was the case less than two months ago on the RSSC Splendor. I don’t know whether the spirits and/or wine would be replenished, as it was only a seven night cruise. On the last night there was still wine left, and the spirit bottle (vodka) was full. But the soda and beer in the fridge was replenished. 

I’m waiting to what is in the mini bar (and how much) in SS and CS from someone who has cruised after the “enhancement”. It seems from reading this thread that it included only a one time fill of soda and beer on a complementary basis. (Not great on longer cruises.) And for the record, lines like Regent include refil of these items on request, plus spirits and wine.

Also, we don’t wear anything that can’t be washed and dried in a drier here at home. And we certainly don’t pack anything that requires special handling on a cruise. We don’t take cruises of 16 days or more, so we have no experience with “formal optional” on Regent. But sometimes I take a sports jacket to the cruise to give extra pockets. And sometimes I wear it to dinner on Regent, because I want to do so. I haven’t worn a tie in over 12 years, and don’t know where my old ties are — if they haven’t been thrown away.

Now, seriously, the fact that Regent has included laundry service is a major reason why we chose it over other lux lines. We know that while good denim jeans are acceptable for dining in our town (Durango, CO), Regent (and other lux lines) don’t feel that way. No problem. There are slacks (not denim) that are cut just like jeans and are not as heavy as well, and are acceptable for evening hours on Regent. Because of this, I bought a bunch oh these slacks, and found that I liked them better than jeans — even where they are not “required”. And they are lighter in the luggage also. And if , like us, you want to spend an additional night or two in the embarkation port city, you might arrive on board in need of laundry service. If you ask, you probably will get it.

Oh, I think we all know that “2025” was a typo. But I’m confused about the “elevated” wine prices. They range from $5 to $23 on the menu you posted. Isn’t that the price over and above the $17 covered under PDP? If so, no math is needed. 

Well, if Celebrity desires to furnish a true lux experience with its Retreat and Premium beverage package, it is missing the mark. I just returned from a Regent cruise (with a fare a bit less than a SS). There was no extra charge for anything we would actually drink. There were some wines and spirits an extra cost, and I have never heard of them. And they were at major extra cost. I jotted down a few names, and asked a local liquor store manager what they are and how expensive they are. His store is in an upscale area, and he had to look these up! He told me that the $200 or so per bottle average that Regent was charging for these was CHEAP!  They are (IMHO) not drinks — they are collector’s items.  My wife loves prosecco, and was introduced to a brand on that cruise. She loved it. I asked my local liquor store manager to get us some. He did. His price is $22/bottle. It was not only included, but recommended on Regent — where grocery store wines are not extra cost, they aren’t even offered.  

The dress code always in effect — elegant casual — describes a minimum (not a maximum) of dress on all nights. So you can wear a tux anytime you wish. We cruised Regent before the 16 night rule for formal optional was in effect, and sometimes there were formal nights on shorter cruises. On those, a coat and tie was the minimum. Of course, tuxes were welcome also. But we saw very few tuxes.

I can’t give an answer, as it is a matter of how much you would actually use the real balcony. And the interior size of the cabin is important too.

How did it go? 

4 hours ago, JohnRuby said:

Any details you learned from the sister ship Eclipse dry dock?  Like could you see or hear what was changed?  I hear exterior paint, carpet, sheets, drapes, etc?  Would love to hear what changed.  Much appreciated

Well, it has been a long time ago. But as I recall, the carpets, paint and furniture on the Eclipse looked new and fresh. But on the Equinox they were a bit worn, but everything was functional. This was before all the revolutionalizing stuff that made ship’s interiors look like the “Ikea of the seas”, which I might not have liked much. Instead, the Eclipse then looked classy and new. 

In 2019 we cruised the Equinox in Alaska. While it looked to be near the end of its redecorating cycle. It provided a very functional experience. We could know how she would look all refreshed, as a few months before we had cruised her sister ship, the Eclipse, which had recently returned from a dry dock. Sharpe!

We had signed up for a tour of the Normandy beaches on our August Splendor cruise. It was scheduled to depart at 8:45 AM. We received an email from Regent that it was cancelled. We contacted our TA and she was informed that the tour would now depart at 9:45 AM. We are still on it. Wonder why the email said cancelled instead of simple informing us of the new time? 

38 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

Or maybe their credit is not good. The Caribbean is booming. 

Good point. This would account for Regent’s failure to secure hotel and transfers in Barbados.And it had the same problem in Iceland too.

Just a guess, but it looks like Regent is having problems finding suitable providers of shorex hotels, land transportation, and all land services. For what ever reason, the end of the pandemic left us with world-wide shortages of labor, which could be the root of these problems.

Five years ago, the Retreat was real competition for the lux lines. Almost the same degree of service and inclusions but for a lower fare. Been there — enjoyed that. Now, post-pandemic it looks as if some of the former inclusions aren’t there any more, and the fares are not lower (if at all and  even higher) than the lux lines. So, while the Retreat may still be enjoyable, it is no longer a “good deal” given the price. For some reason, some like a larger ship than the lux lines offer. I can’t see why. We returned from a cruise on the Regent Splendor two weeks ago. We found the service, food, and entertainment to be great. Can’t imagine what would have been better if that ship held 3000 guests instead of 750. More guests onboard would seem to be a negative factor — not positive.

This may be a bit off topic, but it is funny. A friend was asking me about cruises, and said he was tired of lines and crowds everywhere and extra cost for many things.  Told him to check out Regent, which almost  never has such things. He said he wouldn’t like it because their ads showed all dressed up people (coats, ties and evening dresses). I said “don’t believe all the pictures you see in ads — it’s not that way onboard” I had to show him some pictures of guests I took on the Splendor a couple of weeks ago to convince him. Makes me wonder how many people avoid Regent because they think it is too dressy. 

 I guess I should contact Regent and tell the folks there that their ads showing dressed up guests are DRIVING AWAY potential customers! It would drive me away too if I didn’t know better — which I do.

NCL can compete with the Retreat only on their newest, larger ships..back in 2015 we were on a music cruise in their Haven on the NCL Pearl. There was no separate dining room, no,Haven included lounges, and no included drinks on the main ship. I posted on the NCL board here to see if this were still true. I found that it is still the case. To me, the NCL haven on some of their ships is no competition for the MSC Yacht club or the X Retreat